# Rainbowman Rollen Stewart **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 24, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689 "2006-11-24T22:23:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnny\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@johnny\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnny_M)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/1 "2006-11-24T22:23:52Z")
I have been in contact with Rollen Stewart. Its ironic that he received 3 lifetime sentences without ever hurting anyone physically. He has served 13 years in prision and to me it seems that he is at the end of his rope. Even John Gotti received 1 lifetime sentence. This sentence to Rollen is cruel and unusual punishment. Anyone agreeing with me please get in touch with me. I am forming a team along with a few of his prior acquaintences to try and get his case reopened and get him into theropy where he belongs and not jail any longer. If you would like to help please email your comments and thoughts to [JohnM8948@aol.com](mailto:JohnM8948@aol.com) ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2006, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/2 "2006-11-24T22:36:53Z")
Yes, this is on-topic. The reference is to [Is the guy who held up those “John 3:16” signs at sports events in jail for life?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a971107.html) As to his delusional state, there can be no doubt that the man is barking mad. Nevertheless, he chose to snatch at celebrity by openly threatening to murder innocents, and that makes him evil in my book, whether he’s off his nut or not. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/3 "2006-11-25T21:59:48Z")
He didn’t just threaten people: > [@](#): > > His wife left him, saying he had choked her because she held up a sign in the wrong location. His car was totaled by a drunk driver, his money ran out, and he wound up homeless in LA. Increasingly convinced that the end was near, Rollen decided to create a radically different media character. He set off a string of bombs in a church, a Christian bookstore, a newspaper office, and several other locations. Meanwhile he sent out apocalyptic letters that included a hit list of preachers, signing the letters “the Antichrist.” Rollen says he wanted to call attention to the Christian message, and while this may seem like a sick way to go about it, it wasn’t much weirder than waving signs in the end zone at football games. In any case, no one was hurt in the bombings, which mostly involved stink bombs. > > On September 22, 1992, believing the Rapture was only six days away and having prepared himself by watching TV for 18 hours a day, Stewart began his last “presentation.” Posing as a contractor, he picked up two day laborers in downtown LA, then drove to an airport hotel. Taking the men up to a room, he unexpectedly walked in on a chambermaid. In the confusion that followed he drew a gun, the two men escaped, and the maid locked herself in the bathroom. The police surrounded the joint, and Rollen demanded a three-hour press conference, hoping to make his last national splash. He didn’t get it. After a nine-hour siege the cops threw in a concussion grenade, kicked down the door, and dragged him away. Yeah, if you set aside choking his wife, bombing churches and bookstores, holding people hostage and such, no, he didn’t hurt anyone physically at all. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![johnny\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a87d85/32.png) [@johnny\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnny_M)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/4 "2006-11-26T05:04:51Z")
If there are any defense attornies out there who want to pick up this case get in touch on message board? It can be a very high profile case and you may make a name for yourself. My originial post was to comment on Cecil!s column. I do not no Rollen Stewart ,never met him, or agree what he did, and agree that he is off his rocker with that said however I also beleive that his sentence was overkill. After 13 years behind bars its now time for theropy. From what i have read of his life his father died when he was 7, his mother died in a fire 10 years later, and then his only sister was murdered by her boyfriend. Rollen then turned to drugs with that kind of background I can understand why! My question to those who say he is where he suppose to be? Why did he not shoot it out with police? Why not kill the maid? Why not shoot at the planes and choppers? Why not fire at least 1 round of ammo? I beleive he never wanted to hurt anyone,and as for his stink bombs in churhes and bookstores thats no more than any teenager would do on mischief night. bottom line I just feel sorry for this anomaly of a man. Is trying to help someone who can!t a bad thing? ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/5 "2006-11-26T17:00:43Z")
He said, “I am going to kill these innocent people if I don’t get what I want.” No degree of insanity excuses that. He belongs in prison, period. ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/6 "2006-11-27T01:06:32Z")
Hey **johnny M**. Just so you know, to my knowledge there’s not a single California criminal attorney actively participating on the SMDB at the present time. So, don’t be offended if no one sends you an email. Your question intrigued me - I’ve never heard of the guy before, maybe cuz I don’t watch sports - so I did a little digging around (it’s raining here this afternoon) and found a few things that might interest you. One is the official Cal. Dep’t of Prisons [explanation](http://www.cya.ca.gov/Offenders/parole_process.html) of the parole process. For an indication of how hard it has become for lifers to qualify, see [this article](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/07/01/EDG4NDGLGB1.DTL&type=printable) in the SF Chronicle. I gather from this somewhat-stale [blog](http://therainbowman.blogspot.com/) that Rollen has been getting parole hearings, but can’t get an upcheck from the psych guys. Given his [story](http://www.pacifier.com/~dkossy/rainbow.html), I can’t say I’m surprised. As for the mini General Debate we have going here over the seriousness of the offense, please understand that kidnapping is considered a very big deal. That no one was killed is good - had they been, he’d probably be on death row - but that does not make it okay. And the fact that life in prison is a permitted sentence means the legislature has decided it’s an appropriate punishment in the right circumstances. Whether you (or I) agree these were the right circumstances is long since water under the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/7 "2006-11-27T03:00:32Z")
Umm, SDMB. :smack: BTW, **John W. Kennedy** (missed on preview), I gather that it wasn’t so much Rollen’s threatening to kill his hostage as his threatening to shoot at airplanes landing at a nearby airport which caused the most consternation. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/8 "2006-11-27T03:20:33Z")
I’m having a bit of trouble comparing this bit from the OP: [QUOTE=johnny M] I have been in contact with Rollen Stewart. [/QUOTE] With this from his next post: [QUOTE=johnny M] My originial post was to comment on Cecil!s column. I do not no Rollen Stewart ,never met him, or agree what he did, and agree that he is off his rocker with that said however I also beleive that his sentence was overkill. [/QUOTE] So you never met the guy, but you have been “in contact” with him, and you’re working with friends of his on some bizarre plan to assist the guy somehow? Something smells here, and it ain’t left over sweet potato pie… ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rainbowman-rollen-stewart/381689/9 "2006-11-27T03:55:19Z")
I’ve closed this thread because we generally frown on calls to action, pleas for assistance in real life, e-mail campaigns, and the like unless pre-approved by the administration. For more information, see [FAQ - Rules for Posting at the Straight Dope Message Boards](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=384736) Anyone, including johnny M, who wishes to discuss the Stewart case may start a new thread. That will be fine as long as you don’t ask for help in getting him released (or help in keeping him locked up, for that matter). bibliophage moderator CCC